


Fortuitous Redecoration

by scullywolf



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 04:16:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3105335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t the first time the TARDIS had moved rooms around on a whim. Far from it. But the library had never been moved before, and this was… well… this was a big change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fortuitous Redecoration

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LostinFic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostinFic/gifts).



> Tumblr Secret Santa Fic for Lostinfic!

“Doctor?”

Rose could never be quite sure where she would find him when she awoke. Sometimes he was right out in the console room, bouncing on his toes and behaving as though he’d been counting down the seconds waiting for her to emerge from her room. Other times he would be in the galley, banana in one hand, cup of tea in the other. (Rose always found this rather an appalling combination, but if the grin on his face was anything to go by, he quite disagreed.) Once, she’d had to wander for nearly half an hour, down meandering TARDIS corridors, deeper and deeper into the bowels of the ship until she found him in Storage Compartment 7F, which was apparently a room devoted entirely to housing cricket equipment.

Having checked both the console room and the galley, Rose headed toward the next most likely location: the library. The old him, the leather-wearing him, used to spend a lot more time there, but there was still a fair chance she might find him searching for something among the shelves, even if he didn’t tend to linger as long anymore.

She pushed open the library door, then stopped short.

She backed up, looked one way up the corridor and down the other. Definitely the right spot, right door. It wasn’t the first time the TARDIS had moved rooms around on a whim. Far from it. But the library had never been moved before, and this was… well… this was a big change.

In place of the plush carpeting and dark wood was an ice skating rink.

An open, Olympic-sized (or nearly) rectangle of ice sat in the middle of the room, without any walls around it. Rose took a breath. She hadn’t been skating in years, but when she was smaller, she and her mum used to go every winter, Sundays in Hyde Park every week until they closed for the season.

The room was empty but for two pairs of skates sitting on the floor beside the ice. Rose thought briefly about going back out to search for the Doctor some more, but then she shrugged. He would turn up, eventually. Let him come find her for a change. Leaving the door ajar, she made her way into the room, stopping and toeing off her trainers when she reached the skates.

She put on the smaller pair, not the least bit surprised to find that they fit her perfectly, and stepped carefully out onto the ice. Her first lap was a bit wobbly, but it didn’t take long for her to find her feet, and by the next lap she was skating backwards and taking careful, testing jumps, all with an enormous smile on her face.

“Well! Haven’t seen _this_ room in ages.”

Rose looked over to see the Doctor leaning against the doorway arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Didn’t know you skated,” she called from the far side of the rink. She turned a tiny circle and began making her way over towards him.

“Never have, in this body. Nor in the previous one for that matter. In fact I’d say it’s probably been a good, oh, ninety, ninety-five years, if I had to guess.”

“Oh, well if _that’s_ all,” Rose said, laughing. “I’d say it’s like riding a bicycle, but I’m not sure that still applies if it’s been nearly a century since the last time you tried it.”

He shrugged. Rose skated a small figure-eight in the corner nearest the door, just to keep moving. His eyes were on her every time she looked over, and the corners of his mouth were turned up in the barest grin.

“Well go on then. Gonna just stand there watching, or do I get to see you wobble round the ice for the first time in ninety-some years?”

“Wobble? Surely not.” He sniffed, putting his hands in his trouser pockets as he straightened. “I’ll have you know I used to be rather good at this.”

“You saying you’ve got the moves?” she teased.

“I might be.”

When he still didn’t make any effort to leave the doorway, Rose raised her eyebrows. “So? Show me your moves, Doctor. Keep standing over there, a girl might think you’re all talk.”

“Oi! Wasn’t all talk when it came to the dancing, was I?”

Rose stopped skating and cocked her head to the side as though she were considering. “Well, maybe not all talk…”

With a huff, the Doctor strode over to the other pair of skates, muttering under his breath while he put them on. Rose hid a giggle and started moving again, charting a lazy serpentine across the ice, growing more comfortable and confident as she went, the years of practice coming back to her. A flash of movement drew her attention, and she saw the Doctor’s arms pinwheel briefly as he joined her in the rink.

“All right?” she called, picking up speed and skating towards him.

“Never better,” he said, the tension in his shoulders contradicting his claim as he took a few tenuous glides forward. “I was shorter the last time I did this, you know. Lower centre of gravity. Takes a bit of, erm, recalibration.”

As she caught up with him, Rose snagged his hand and tugged him along with her. “C’mon! It’s better if you get some momentum going.”

He stumbled forward, barely keeping his feet. “Rose!”

She spun around, picking up his free hand and skating backwards in front of him, holding both of his hands in hers. “Don’t think about it. Just keep moving. ‘S like when we run, yeah?”

“This is nothing at all like running.” His eyes were wide, but he was staying more or less balanced.

Rose shook her head. “No, but when we run, see, we just go. No overthinking, no bothering about what our feet are doing. Same thing here.”

As he slowly relaxed into it, a grin broke across his face. “Think I’m remembering how to do this now,” he said. “In fact….”

He drew her closer, changing his grip and pulling her into an embrace more suitable for dancing; after picking up her left hand and setting it on his shoulder, he replaced his own right hand on her waist. Their pace slowed slightly as he guided them through the turn at the end of the rink, and Rose fought the urge to walk her fingers over to fuss with the hair at the nape of his neck. She let her eyes flit over his face, lingering just a second too long on his mouth before quickly bringing her gaze back up to his eyes. He was smirking at her, eyebrow raised.

“Ready?”

“Wait, what--?”

Rose squeaked in surprise as he put both hands on her waist and hoisted her in the air, spinning them neatly so that he was skating backwards instead. His smirk transformed into a smug grin when they both stayed on their feet and carried on without incident.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?”

“Always!” The smile on his face was so broad that she couldn’t help returning it.

After a while, the rumble in her stomach reminded Rose that she hadn’t yet had any breakfast. Though she was having a brilliant time, she knew she probably ought to stop and eat something before they ran off to whatever adventure awaited them for the day.

“Hey, what do you say we take a break and you can impress me with your cocoa-making skills instead?”

The Doctor planted his feet and pulled her into a spin before bringing her in close for a hug.

“Only if you’ll agree to some more skating later. I’d forgotten how much fun this is!”

Rose laughed and nodded. “It’s a deal.”


End file.
